1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to food presses and cutting presses that are used to compress and cut food, respectively. More particularly, the present invention relates to manually operated devices that are used to squeeze and cut soft food, such as tofu.
2. Prior Art Description
Tofu is made from lightly compressed and aged soy bean curd. As such, tofu has a gelatinous consistency with a high moisture content. In order to keep tofu from drying out, it is often packaged in a liquid, such as water or soy whey.
The problem associated with liquid packaged tofu is that the tofu is saturated with the surrounding liquid. The tofu, therefore, has very little capacity to absorb other liquids and other flavors when it is used in cooking.
To remedy this problem, tofu is typically conditioned prior to use. Some of the liquid saturating the tofu is removed so that the tofu has the ability to absorb flavors during cooking. Often the tofu is wrapped in a towel that absorbs some of the liquids within the tofu. Sometimes, tofu is placed in a press so that some of the liquid in the tofu can be squeezed out of the tofu. Prior art presses are exemplified by U.S. Design Pat. No. D540,628 to Meyers, entitled Tofu Press.
Due to the gelatinous nature of tofu, it can be only lightly compressed before it deforms out of shape. It is for this reason that tofu presses are commonly made with rectangular compression chambers. This enables a piece of tofu to be cut to size and precisely placed in the press. Since the press and the tofu are both equal in size, the tofu cannot laterally deform when compressed.
Presses compress the tofu to remove excess liquids. As a block of tofu is compressed, the block of tofu becomes slightly thinner as liquid is freed from the tofu. The compression of the tofu better bonds the molecules of the tofu by eliminating some of the water molecules that are in the tofu. This makes the tofu more durable and easier to cut. Tofu can therefore be lightly compressed to preserve the softness of the tofu for dishes like salads. Conversely, tofu can be heavily pressed for firmer tofu for heartier dishes.
When cooking, a block of tofu is typically cut into small pieces. The cutting is typically done manually by a person using a knife. It takes a sharp knife and skill to cleanly cut a soft block of tofu. Recognizing that not all people have the skills or the tools to correctly cut tofu by hand, devices have been developed specifically for cleanly cutting blocks of tofu. Such devices typically consist of a block form that holds the tofu in shape and a wire or ribbon cutter that passes through the tofu. Such devices are most prevalent in Japan and are exemplified by Japanese Patent Publication No. 11076057A, entitled Tofu Cutter and Tofu Fixer, Japanese Patent Publication No. 01193192A, entitled Tofu Cutting And Transfer Device, Japanese Patent Publication No. 02186957A, entitled Automatic Cutting And Packaging Device for Tofu, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 09131696A entitled Tofu Cutting Device.
Such prior art tofu cutting devices cut the tofu while the tofu is relaxed and not under compression. Furthermore, the cuts created by such prior art devices are only in one plane. If a block of tofu is to be cut in two planes, it must be removed, turned, reinserted and recut.
Repositioning cut tofu is a very difficult task. Likewise, tofu can be cut more efficiently and neatly if it is cut while compressed rather than after compression. A need therefore exists for a device that would enable a block of tofu, or similar material, to be pressed and cut while compressed. A need also exists for a device that can cut a block of tofu or similar material in more than one plane without having to reposition the tofu. These needs are met by the present invention as described and claimed below.